Far From Home
by Commander Alice Shepard
Summary: A Story based around one of the 'Duct Rats' on the Citadel, her life before and after she was adopted by two Asari, and how her life changed because 'hired gun' meant 'tester for our time machine.'
1. Nicknames and Gifts

**AN:Simple and sweet.**

**Probably about a month after they met, both are four here...I feel the need to do some of her 'Duct Rat' years before I do her 'soldier' and 'tes subject/time traveler' parts.**

**Guess it helps establish her more?**

* * *

Her first instinct when she felt hands cover yer eyes, another child close behind her, warmth against her back, was to yelp.

Her second was to move so she could yank the hands away, shove the person back.

But then she recognized his scent, how his hand felt, and she 'lighed'...an odd combination of childhood laughter, and maturity's sigh.

"You didn't punch me this time!" Linc cheered, a light teasing tone to his voice, as he removed his hands and spun her to face him.

"That's 'cause I recognized how you smell." She said,grinning as she wrinkled and unwrinkled her nose.

He snorted softly,shaking his head.

"Next time I'll just say something...even if your yelps are silly!"

She playfully shoved him, moving to sit on the makeshift bed they shared.

"I didn't see much of you today..." here she mock-pouted, as though this was the worst thing ever, not seeing him.

"Got asked to do a job...and look!" here Linc pulled something from his pocket, holding it out so it dangled between them.

"...It's so pretty!" solar breathed lightly, eyeing the long, adult-length chain, and the cluster of stones that hung from it...the green and white pieces of sea glass, the polished shine of purple and rose quartz, and many others she couldn't even name.

"They gave me this as a reward!" Linc's chest puffed up with pride, this was by far the best 'petty' trinket the children received for their spying.

"Wow! Wish I'd been the one they picked...think of how much food you could get for it!"

That's how her little mind often worked...she'd see something she adored, or be given something she wanted to keep, but in the end, survival triumphed, and she'd sell it for money to buy food.

Linc, however, shook his head, stepping closer to her and dropping the chain over her head, so the stones bumped against her waist.

"I want you to have it...to wear. So you'll always shine." Here he gave a gap-toothed grin.

"Like the pretty little star you are."


	2. Saving her Life one Last Time

**AN: Hope no one got too attached to Linc from the last chapter...if they did...-wordlessly hands out tissues- prepare to cry.**

**If you didn't, I guess prepare to read?**

* * *

_"Go get help! Please,Solar! Please..."_

_"What if they don't listen to me?"_

_"They have to! They have to listen!"_

* * *

Neither one of the children expected for it to happen. Sure, there were horror stories about other kids-duct rats, same as they were-dying of various causes in the ducts.

But if they wanted to keep away from C-sec, to avoid arrest, and away from the assassins who patrolled on occasion, asking the children-Drala'fa, or the ignored,they called them- to spy on a target, they had to use the ducts.

It wasn't all bad-often times they would play hide and seek, crawling about and hiding around corners, their laughter echoing into rooms below on occasion.

But Solar and Linc had always been careful-in fact, he had saved her from a few neck-breaking drops in the short time they had begun playing together.

She had always promised to repay him for this, often doing so by stealing extra food and sharing it with him, or, on occasion, by hugging him tight when he had nightmares of monsters who would kill them all.

But she couldn't save him, couldn't help him when he needed it the most.

* * *

"Solar! Look out!" She saw, rather than felt, him shove her around a bend, and heard him scream, a sound that echoed down the narrow duct and rattled in her chest.

"Linc? Linc,please be ok..."She whimpered quietly, crawling back around the corner.

She thought he was dead when she first saw him-his body had been mangled from the waist down-she could see it through the fan if she looked close, his blood sprayed along the walls and leaving stickiness on her hands.

She hadn't expected him to survive, but then he gasped, shuddered, and opened his eyes, propping himself up and not daring to look back to see the damage.

"Solar...get help...please!"

* * *

She ran. She was still small enough to almost stand in the tunnels, and she could move quicker in a crouching-stance then she could crawl.

It took her barely a minute to get to an opening she could safely exit from, running to C-sec without realizing she had blood on her hands, her clothes-even on her face from wiping at her stray tears.

Eyes darting about the desks, she managed to speak, voice wavering.

"Where's Officer Moony?" Earning a look from a customs agent who had been called back, she stepped back when the older woman advanced.

"He's gone,duct rat. Get lost." The woman's lip was curled in disgust, glaring down at the child.

This agent, you see, thought all the duct rats should simply be spaced, so much easier and it would cut down on the theft of foods that was common.

Solar knew this, but she kept trying.

"Please! He's going to die if he doesn't get help! Please!"

"I don't care! Now get lost before I have you arrested!" Snarled the woman,giving Solar a shove with her foot as she spoke.

Choking back a sob, Solar ran again, back into the duct and to where Linc waited, hoping for help.

* * *

"Th-they wouldn't come,L-linc." she had begun to hiccup as she cried now,lacing her fingers with her only friend's. "I'm sorry...I t-tried, I really did."

She saw Linc smile weakly, reaching up to brush tears off her face.

"I know you did,Solar...I know...My Pretty Little Star..." Here Solar smiled weakly, the nickname easing her pain if only for a moment. "Promise you won't stop shining, no matter what." Linc's voice was fading, she knew he didn't have long.

"I promise..." Scooting closer, she gently moved so she was sitting behind him, his head in her lap, fingers still laced together.

"I'll shine for you, until I burn out...Until we find each other again."

He smiled faintly,using a portion of his last breath to chuckle. "We'll meet at a park...somewhere we can play without danger, yea?"

Smiling weakly, Solar leaned down and kissed his cheek, resting her forehead on his and hiding them both with her hair.

"Sounds perfect..."


	3. Never Quite as Planned

**AN: Yea...this is 19-year-old Solar, when she's stationed on a ship as part of her training.**

**Things don't go according to plan...luckily, She's good at improvising.**

* * *

"This is not a war. We're getting the data and getting out. No Hostiles detected."

Famous last words.

That isn't to say Solar didn't trust her Commanding Officer's judgement-she did, more then she normally would.

But that doesn't mean she left her weapons aboard the ship,either.

"Damn it, why are the Blue Suns here?" The CO's shouts blared through her radio, almost causing her to jump up from where she was hiding from enemy fire.

It was bad enough she was the last in her squad to be standing-the others had all left their weapons on the ship, and had relied on their powers...but Engineers could only do so much, and now she was pinned down, five mercs surrounding her and her downed squadmates. Peeking carefully around the side of the crate, she saw an explosive canister, carefully packed to be shipped, right next to three of the mercs, about a foot away.

"Why didn't we try that sooner?" mumbling to herself, she briefly ducked out of cover, shooting a warp at the canister and going down again.

Wait.

"...Shit"

* * *

The crate she was taking cover by prevented her from getting hit with any shrapnel, but the blast still threw her back a bit, slamming into a wall and breaking the faulty seal on her helmet. Dazed, and with her ears ringing, she yanked it loose, chucking it to the side before she stood, taking a careful head shot to take down one of the last two mercs.

The final one seemed to see he couldn't win now, but before he could move or shoot to try and knock down her shields, which had regenerate, she had thrown a warp at him, enough to knock him to the ground.

He tried to get up, but she quickly pinned him with her knee, her gun at his head.

Pausing for a moment, she could see he was a turian. His mandibles were twitching wildly, as though he was trying to beg for his life, but she only smirked.

"Find peace in the embrace of the goddess"

His blood splashed across her face and her armor, blue on blue, his life gone.

Standing slowly, she pressed one hand to the radio positioned by her ear.

"All hostiles eliminated. Tending to the wounded now."


	4. Screams In The Dark

**Some Cute Linc and Solar things, both are five here.**

* * *

Solar thought she had dreamt it at first-or that it was one of the voices she had learned to block out over the years.  
However, when the screaming didn't stop, she rolled onto her side, flinching as the cold metal under her hit her bare side. Waking up almost instantly with that, she focused on the screaming, and realized it was coming from across the room-from Linc.  
Shooting up in an instant, she slid off the crates, not even bothering to glance around for other people before she dashed across the room, sitting on the edge of Linc's 'bed' and pulling him gently into a sitting position, wrapping her thin arms around him and muffling his screams with her shoulder.  
After a few minutes, they quieted to whimpers, and he shifted, looking up at her.  
"...The monsters were trying to get us,Solar...they were going to kill us."  
She smiled slightly, knowing his monsters well-this wasn't the first night he had woken her up with his screaming and nightmares, but she never minded.  
"I promise they won't get us Linc...even if I have to find a way to distract them while you get out." she hugged him a little tighter,relaxing slightly when he hugged her back.  
"But I don't wanna know they've gotten you...I'd rather you escaped. Promise me!" here he pulled back, looking at her with an intensity that wasn't normal in a four year old, "Promise me...if the monsters ever come here for real...that you'll get out. That you'll stay safe, no matter what happens to me."  
"Linc...you know I couldn't do that..." Before she could finish, he lightly tugged her hair, causing her to stop talking.  
"No. You have to promise. I won't let them hurt you. Promise me you won't let them hurt you!"  
Sighing, she was going to argue more when she realized that it would upset him more, possibly make the nightmares worse and more frequent.  
So she swallowed her reply, smiled and said what he wanted to hear-"I promise."


	5. I Love You,Solar

**I love to hurt her,it seems...**

* * *

It had been a joke, childhood innocence and a sliver of string, but it turned into so much more when she thought back to it.  
Because he couldn't keep his promises anymore, and she wanted him to keep this when she was lonely, when she missed him.  
She wanted it when she needed something to cling to, something to say 'You weren't dreaming, he existed, he's a real boy who will be born one day and a little girl with dark blue eyes and ebony hair will find a friend and someone to trust'  
But no matter how much she wanted it-it wasn't going to happen.

* * *

_They'd been huddled in a corner, out of sight from others, eating the food they had managed to get together that day through their usual means-stealing, begging, selling one of their few belongings for a few credits until they finally had enough for one meal, enough to split if they were careful.  
She had teased him, saying they were like siblings who had no need for parents, or like the grown up couples who would share their food, the ones who wore matching rings to show they were married.  
He had laughed a little, before he looked her dead in the eye and said  
"Solar, I want to marry you one day. Do you want to marry me?"  
She had laughed, a child being a child for one moment in her life before she nodded, moving to hug him with a smile.  
"Of course, Linc. I'd love to marry you one day-no matter what happens,okay?"  
He had grinned and nodded, holding up his hand with one pinky extended, waiting until she had linked it with hers to speak again.  
"It's a promise,then. We'll get married when we're old enough."  
She had smiled, her nose-not yet broken-crinkling slightly like it did when she smiled, really smiled with all her heart.  
"I can't wait."_


End file.
